Press Release: FENCELINES: A Collective Monument to Resilience
FENCELINES: A Collective Monument to Resilience
Large-scale public art installation confronts Chevron refinery in Richmond, accompanied by major exhibition at Richmond Art Center
FENCELINES // PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION
April 22 – June 3, 2023
@ Richmond Parkway between Vernon and Gertrude
FENCELINES // EXHIBITION
April 5 – June 3, 2023
@ Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804
Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm
FENCELINES // COMMUNITY EVENTS
Earth Day Installation @ Richmond Parkway: Saturday, April 22, 10am-4pm (Community Remarks at 3pm)
Spring Family Day @ Richmond Art Center: Saturday, April 29, 12pm-3pm
Artist Talk @ Richmond Art Center: Saturday June 3, 12pm-1:30pm
Artist Talk @ Richmond Art Center: Saturday June 3, 12pm-1:30pm
Closing Reception @ Richmond Art Center: Saturday June 3, 2pm-4pm
Richmond, CA: The Fencelines Project centers circumstances of environmental injustice through a public art installation along the Richmond Parkway, where an existing fenceline separates Richmond residential neighborhoods from the Chevron petroleum refinery. For generations, this refinery has polluted the community’s air, water, land and people.
The art installation encompasses painted slats, milled from locally reclaimed trees, placed on the fence itself and adorned with ribbons animating the direction of the wind. Over the past year at community workshops in Richmond hundreds of individuals and families have recorded their stories and messages on these slats, documenting the impact of the petroleum industry on many lives and together forming a collective monument to resilience.
“We are here, we want to be seen, and we are lending our hand to make all of these initiatives work to end pollution of our communities.”
–Princess Robinson, Community Organizer and Fencelines Co-Creator
A Fencelines public art installation event will happen on Earth Day, Saturday, April 22. Community members are invited to meet at Richmond Parkway between Vernon and Gertrude Avenues to install the painted slats. This event will take place between 10am and 4pm, with a program of remarks from community organizers, artists and poetry happening at 3pm.
A large-scale exhibition and free community events at Richmond Art Center accompany the Fencelines public art project, offering opportunities for community participation and designed to amplify the work of local environmental justice organizations.
The Fencelines exhibition in the main gallery at Richmond Art Center features an immersive collective portrait of project participants and a sculptural fence installation featuring community-painted slats. The gallery space hosts workshop tables where visitors can participate by making their own piece of the project and include their portrait in the digital archive of the project. The exhibition also features picket signs from local actions for climate justice, and video and audio projects that highlight Richmond stories of confronting the harms of the refinery presence here. A special conversation with the project’s co-creators and closing reception will be held on Saturday, June 3. The talk will occur between 12pm and 1:30pm, and the reception will run from 2pm to 4pm.
On Saturday, April 29, 12pm-3pm, Spring Family Day is happening at Richmond Art Center. Kids of all ages and their grown ups are invited to spend an afternoon making art and celebrating the community-voices that demand Richmond residents’ right to clean air. This family event will feature art-making activities – including an opportunity to paint a fence slat to be added to the Fencelines installation – community action groups, spoken word, and music. Special guests will be the Richmond Our Power Coalition.
The exhibition and events at Richmond Art Center are free, open to all, and no rsvp is necessary. Richmond Art Center is located at 2540 Barrett Avenue in Richmond.
Fencelines is funded in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency.
About the Project Team: Fencelines is co-created by local artists and organizers –
Graham L.P., Princess Robinson, and Gita Khandagle – and members of the Richmond Community working in partnership with the Richmond Our Power Coalition to envision a just and regenerative future.
About Richmond Art Center: For over 80 years, Richmond Art Center has served the residents of Richmond and surrounding communities through studio arts education programs, exhibitions, off-site classes, and special initiatives for community-wide impact. Richmond Art Center’s mission is to be a catalyst in Richmond for learning and living through art. Richmondartcenter.org
For more information contact: Amy Spencer, amy@richmondartcenter.org
Top image: Excerpt from Fencelines: Richmond Collective Portrait, courtesy of Graham Laird Prentice & Gita Khandagle
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